Unofficial translation
Below you may find Prime Minister Kurti’s interview with journalist Letizia Tortello, conducted on January 14 and published on January 16, 2023.
Albin Kurti “Putin is playing with Kosovo’s skin, so Serbia wants to undermine the Balkans”
The Prime Minister of Kosovo: “Belgrade has a pact with Moscow, the EU must intervene, the border between NATO and Russia also goes through us. More soldiers are needed, better if Italians.”
There can be an agreement with Vucic if he recognizes our country. With the Serbian minority, we apply the rights foreseen in our Constitution.
The barricades in the north of the country were infiltrated by pro-Russian elements, from “Night Wolves” to Wagner mercenaries.
Belgrade wants to create a mimicry of Russia in the region, Europe cannot be neutral for the sake of its own security.
Letizia Tortello
From Ukraine to Kosovo, “The enemy is the same: Putin. Serbia has an agreement with the Kremlin to destabilize the Region. The border between NATO and Russia is also here, in the Balkans”. On December 15, the Kosovar Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, submitted the application for membership in the EU. Today he is breathing, after weeks of tensions and clashes in the north of the country, with the Serbian minority that erected barricades. The memory of the war (1998-99) is too fresh, and too painful, to think about a new conflict. Hostilities in this plan seem to have only been postponed until later, before the April elections. The dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo is further away than ever. According to Kurti, this is so because Belgrade opposes it. As a kind of revolving door through which Moscow wants to indirectly threaten the EU as well.
Prime Minister Kurti, your country, the youngest born in Europe, 15 years ago, is currently experiencing dangerous months regarding its stability. How do you plan to prevent an escalation?
“Our country has had a good year. We are evidence that democracy and economic development go hand in hand, with 4% economic growth, +23% increase in exports, foreign direct investments by 47%. We improved by 17 positions in the Corruption Perceptions Index, the same in press freedom index. We are in the first place in the Western Balkans for the rule of law. But relations with Serbia are not normal and we must normalize them”
But an agreement between you and Serbian President Vučić seems impossible. You are in a debate with tough questions and answers. How far are you willing to go for peace in your country?
“The normalization of relations must have mutual recognition as its center piece. Serbia must recognize Kosovo. I believe that the EU proposal of last September can serve as a good basis for further discussions towards this democratic goal. International pressure must be exerted”.
There should be a step towards Belgrade also from your side. The US envoy in Pristina, Derek Chollet, has drawn your attention, reminding you to respect the agreement for the formation of the Association of Northern Municipalities in Serbian majority. Will you do it?
“My predecessors have concluded 33 agreements in ten years of talks in Brussels. One of them is the Association of Municipalities with a Serbian Majority. The only agreement that failed the test of the Constitutional Court of Kosova. Hece, we find ourselves in this hardship. I think that Kosova guarantees the highest level of minority rights. Especially for the Serbian minority. Our country is comprised of 93% Albanians, almost 5% Serbs, the rest are Bosniaks, Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians, Turks and Gorans. We unilaterally apply the principles of our Constitution written by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari in the period before the Declaration of Independence. We are talking about the highest European standards. An ethnic association of municipalities goes against the spirit of our Constitution”.
Belgrade speaks of serious discrimination against its population. Is there any truth to it?
Belgrade insists on this point because it does not want to have an agreement. I cannot compensate Serbia for losing the war in 1999. What is needed in reality is for Serbia to recognize its crimes in its recent history, to distance itself from its past, Milosevic, and from its present, Putin. As far as I am concerned, as prime minister, I am here for the needs of Serbian citizens. Kosovo should be a multi-ethnic and sovereign society. I think it is time to find a dialogue with Serbia. But from the EU’s proposals, which they rejected on last October 27, they want to choose only what suits them.”
What role is Russia playing in the Balkans?
“Kosova is Putin’s obsession. Vucic, in the 1990s, had as his slogan “Greater Serbia”, while now he has changed it to “Serbian World”, a mimicry of the Russian expression Russkiy Mir. Belgrade is the closest and strongest clientelist regime to the Kremlin. Serbia wants Greater Serbia again, wants Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina, wants to transform Montenegro into Ukraine and wants to take the north of Kosovo from us. When it comes to the Association of Municipalities, it is not about the rights of Serbs, but about the territorialization of rights. A mentality similar to that of the despotic President Putin.”
Vucic, however, is showing with his statements that he wants to distance himself from Moscow. Is he playing a double game, in your opinion?
“Serbia has made a choice. It has signed three major agreements with Russia; in May, for the cheapest gas; in September, an agreement between former Foreign Affairs Minister Selakovic and Russian Minister Lavrov in New York was signed to synchronize foreign policy; Most recently, the most pro-Russian Serbian politician, Aleksandar Vulin, former vice president of the party led by Milosevic’s wife, Mira Markovic, is now chief of Serbia’s intelligence. There are those who do not want to see this, but this is very clear to me”.
Do you think the EU is doing enough to avoid a Russian presence in the Balkans?
“The EU must be clearer and more determined. Serbia has not imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation, did not condemn Ukrainian aggression, and the Serbian Orthodox Church aligned with Kirill. That’s why I think the EU should be brave. To tell the truth to Belgrade and act on the basis of the consequences. The EU should not be neutral towards a country that is not neutral towards Russia”.
What are the risks?
“The concrete danger is that there are 48 the Serbian army and gendarmerie operational bases located around the border of Kosova, less than 5 kilometers from us. There are Russian Night Wolves (motorcycle gang very close to Putin, ed.), and also Wagner mercenaries and paramilitaries roaming around. We have pictures with their coats of arms. They were also present at the barricades in the north. Those 16 barricades were Wagner’s barricades.”
Are you afraid that the north of Kosovo will turn into your Crimea?
“I think that Serbia wants to be the little Russia in the Balkans, where the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be the little Belarus, and Montenegro will become Ukraine. For the north of Kosova, to become Transnistria, as in Moldova. This is what they want: a part of the territory in Kosova, which they still control in order to undermine the country as a whole, but also Europe”.
What do you expect from NATO?
“The border between Kosova and Serbia has become the border between NATO and Russia. I think we need more support from NATO with more soldiers, including Italians, in Kosova and also to support our army”.
What do you expect from Italy?
“Italy is the largest neighbor of the Western Balkans. It is a partner and ally. It should be more active and help us maintain a long-term peace.”
How do you see Kosovo after ten years?
“One month ago, we applied for membership in the European Union. In the past, Sweden and Finland were the fastest to integrate into EU, in three years. Cyprus and Malta, in 14 years. I would like to aim for the average, 9 years. The EU is the political project and the most important historical process of peace and prosperity of the planet after the Second World War. We want to become member som we can contribute”.
Last modified: January 16, 2023